Neil the Seal became a social media sensation almost overnight.

Neil is a five-year-old male southern elephant seal who weighs roughly one tonne. He was born on the Tasman Peninsula in October 2020, and has made an annual trip to Tasmania each year since. This is because many seal species regularly return to the place they were born, as well as the sites where they breed and rest.

Over the past few years, Neil has been seen lounging on streets and climbing onto cars at southern Tasmania’s Seven Mile Beach. But beyond his hilarious antics, Neil offers a unique opportunity to understand the behaviour of the world’s largest seal species.

From him, we can also learn how to better coexist with marine wildlife, as we encounter them more often.

Imagine you’ve had an exhausting day of travel, work or running between meetings. The last thing you’d want when lying down to rest is to be swamped by hundreds of people wanting to take a picture of you.

For southern elephant seals, this isn’t far from reality.

Rest is essential for these marine mammals. Satellite-tracking studies show southern elephant seals spend months foraging at sea, often travelling thousands of kilometres across the Southern Ocean. So when they do come ashore – typically twice a year – they need time to recover.

After going........

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